Tag: Australian Retailers Association

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut interest rates by 25 basis points yesterday, taking the cash rate down to 4.5 percent in time for the all important Christmas season.

Retail turnover rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent in July, much to the relief of many small businesses, after registering consecutive falls in the two months previous.

Retailers remain concerned about the impact of the carbon tax, with a survey revealing 83 percent expect the tax will mean consumers spend less and an even larger number reporting it will have a negative impact on profitability.

Bricks and mortar retailers gathered in Sydney this week for the Engage in E-tail seminar, in an effort to better their response to rising consumer demand for e-commerce offerings.

Small retailers have joined Gerry Harvey’s call for a GST on online imports, with the National Retailers Association, which represents 3,700 businesses joining the Fair Imports Alliance according to The Age.

eBay has criticised calls by Australian retailers to reduce the GST threshold applied to imported goods purchased online, labelling it as an unfair attack on Australian consumers, particularly considering the phenomenal growth of Aussie retailers online.

The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is urging its members to consider their right to apply surcharges for credit card purchases, with consumers who pay in cash likely to welcome the practice.

Australians shopping online spend more on purchases from local retailers than they do on purchases from overseas retailers despite the increasing strength of the Aussie dollar.

The Australian Retailers Association said the ABS July Retail Trade figures released yesterday showing a 0.7 percent growth in July retail trade was “not good enough”.

Retail trade in Australia has improved, but only by 0.2 percent in June, repeating the 0.2 percent growth in retail sales recorded by the ABS in May this year.